Static-X

The band rose to fame with their debut album Wisconsin Death Trip, which went platinum in 2001. However, this is the only album they have released to date that has reached such sales level. Their sound incorporates elements of industrial music and heavy metal in a sub-genre called industrial metal. Static-X often refer to themselves as "Evil Disco".

Biography

The beginning and debut - Wisconsin Death Trip (1994–2000)

Static-X was formed in 1994 after the breakup of Wayne Static and Ken Jay's former band Deep Blue Dream. Wayne and Ken originally met at the Chicago record store where Jay worked and were introduced to one another by Smashing Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan (the band also shared a rehearsal space with Smashing Pumpkins for a time). Once Deep Blue Dream folded, Static and Jay moved to Los Angeles to search for new band members. There, they met bassist Tony Campos and guitarist Koichi Fukuda, completing the band's original lineup. Originally they were meant to be called the name of their debut album but figured it was too long and went with Static-X.

Static-X signed with Warner Bros. Records in early 1998, and released their debut album, Wisconsin Death Trip, on March 23, 1999. Soon after, they released their first single "Push It", followed by "I'm with Stupid" and "Bled for Days" in 2000. Static-X toured strictly in support of the album and twice performed on Ozzfest. In the following year a promotional EP, The Death Trip Continues, was released, however this album was not available in stores. In 2001, Wisconsin Death Trip went platinum and is, to date, Static-X's only album to reach this success.

Machine - Shadow Zone (2001–2003)

During recording of their follow-up album Machine, Koichi Fukuda left the band to spend time with his girlfriend and pursue other musical opportunities. Fukuda was only on one song "Otsego Undead" as keyboardist. As Fukuda's replacement, former Dope member Tripp Eisen stepped in. Machine was released May 22, 2001 to major success, and shortly after, Static-X began work on their third album, Shadow Zone, this time with Eisen performing and writing on the album. However, before they could start recording, Ken Jay left the band due to musical and political differences. To drum on the album, Josh Freese of A Perfect Circle and The Vandals was brought in. Later, Nick Oshiro, formerly of Seether, was selected as Jay's replacement and the band's permanent drummer.

During production of the album, Jonathan Davis of Korn contacted Wayne Static to record the vocals for a song he wrote for the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, entitled "Not Meant for Me" as well as contributing the song "Cold". A music video for the song was included as one of the special features on the dvd release (see: Queen of the Damned). Shadow Zone was later released on October 7, 2003. Static-X continued their affiliation with video game soundtracks: "This Is Not" from Machine, was included in the video game Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder; "The Only" from Shadow Zone was featured on the soundtrack of Need for Speed: Underground, while "Start a War" was included in the video game WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006.

Beneath, Between, Beyond - Start A War (2004–2006)

July 20, 2004 saw the release of Beneath... Between... Beyond..., a collection of rarities and demos. Shortly after the release of Beneath... Between... Beyond..., the band commenced work on their fourth studio album, Start a War. On February, 2005, Tripp Eisen was arrested in a sex scandal involving minors, and was not able to perform his obligations with the band, therefore he had to leave the band. Former guitarist Koichi Fukuda, who had been providing samples and keyboards for the new album, rejoined Static-X to fill the gap left by Eisen. Start a War was finally released on June 14, 2005. "I'm the One" and "Dirthouse" were released as singles from the album. The song "Skinnyman" is included in the soundtrack of the 2005 street racing game Need For Speed: Most Wanted, while the song "Start A War" was featured in WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006.

Cannibal (2007–2008)

Cannibal, released on April 3, 2007, marked the studio return of their original guitarist, Koichi Fukuda. One of the new tracks called "No Submission" is available on the Saw III soundtrack. The full track has also been released on Static-X's MySpace page. "Cannibal" was released as a digital download single at iTunes. "Destroyer" was released as a lead off radio single, before the album was released. Videos for the singles were supposed to be taken at the same time.

On March 20, the upcoming album was preceded with an exclusive Destroyer EP. The video for "Destroyer" has also been produced and is available now at headbangersball.com. The album itself debuted at #36 in the U.S. with sales of over 30,000.
On May 10, 2007 it was announced that the band will be playing on the main stage at Ozzfest 2007. Additionally, in a recent interview, Wayne Static announced his side-project called "Pighammer".
The chorus of the song "Destroyer" was used in an advertisement promoting the latest video game in the WWE franchise, Smackdown vs. Raw 2008.

In November 2007, Tony Campos joined legendary industrial act Ministry as a temporary touring bassist for Ministry's C U LaTour in the wake of Paul Raven's passing.

New Studio Album, Cannibal Killers Live and Recent Events (2008–present)

The band will begin their sixth studio album in December after returning from the Operation Annihilation tour in Australia. In a recent posting at the Static-X message boards Wayne Static said that the new album is on track to be finished and out by the end of 2008 and that this time around he is focusing on longer buildups and break downs like in the Wisconsin Death Trip days of the band, however the album will still maintain the heaviness that was present on Cannibal. It sold 160,000 copies. In another recent posting Wayne named four upcoming songs to the new album which are called "Lunatic", "Z28", "Terminal", and "Tera-fied." Wayne also stated that the band has plans to put out a live concert DVD which may or may not include the band's music videos as well. Wayne has commented on the Static-X message boards that there is no working album title yet, or any cover art. He also mentioned that the band begins recording in July. Static-X will also be releasing their much anticipated live CD/DVD, Cannibal Killers Live, on October 14, with an ad on their official Myspace page about all Target Stores [link needed]selling it at only $14.99, with most other stores selling it for $22.99.

Style, related artists and influences

Static-X cite Ministry, Prong, Pantera and Type O Negative as major musical influences. They are frequently linked to these bands by fans and critics, along with others such as White Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory, Danzig, and Coal Chamber. Though they have described their music as "evil disco", Static-X's sound shares much in common with their industrial metal influences, using heavy distortion, electronic keyboards, pounding bass riffs, and fast-paced, aggressive vocals. Songs generally apply heavy use of synthesizers and insertion of samples, such as snippets of movie dialogue. For example, A Dios Alma Perdida samples spaceship drone sound effects and alien chatter from the film Laserblast. A new element used on their Cannibal album is the presence of guitar solos, that weren't present in the previous albums, except for briefly on the albums 'Shadow Zone' in the song 'Destroy All' and 'Start a War' in the song 'Pieces'.

Static-X have been labeled a variety of genres by the press, most notably industrial metal, and nu metal; although the band disputes this, stating they are "more industrial than anything else". According to vocalist Wayne Static, the band is disliked by some dedicated heavy metal fans that refer to the band as "that nu metal band with the guy with the funny hair".

The Otsego songs

Song titles using variations of the word "Otsego" exist on their first four albums, with Cannibal being the first album to break this trend. The songs are titled: "Otsegolation", "Otsego Undead", "Otsegolectric" and "Otsego Amigo". The track "Otsego Undead" is misspelled on the Dracula 2000 soundtrack, and was printed as "Ostego Undead". An explanation for the "Otsego" tracks was given in a 2003 interview with Metal Edge Magazine, where Wayne Static said: